Squat Stance

[John555]

Hi,
I currently do deep high bar squats. I know for high bar you need a narrow stance, but whats narrow? Currently my stance is the stance I land in when I drop down from a dead hang on a pull up bar. This is about the same as my deadllift stance.

Is this about right? Thanks!

 

[Sticky]

I will vary between people mate.
Personally, I go slightly wider than shouder width, with feet with feet pointing about 25* outwards.

 

[dave]

Your good John. You can change it around and see what you like better but I think you should be fine. I suggest people to jump up and down and where they land is the spot, most people are taught that way.

 

[Danco]

What dave suggested works well. I prefer to go a bit wider though, similar to Sticky. My deadlift stance isn't as wide as my squat though.

 

[Kyle Aaron]

Shallower depth is more about quads. Greater depth, below parallel, more about glutes and hamstrings.

A wider stance allows you to go deeper. So the stance width you choose depends on what you want to work. If you only care about quads, go narrow and shallow; if you want an arse, go wide and deep.

High bar is more comfortable and balanced for a narrow stance shallow squat, and low bar for a wider stance squat.

But in the end it's up to you, it's your body. Most of my clients have underdeveloped glutes and hamstrings, and are quad-dominant with poor core strength. So I give them low-bar wide stance squats. Or rather, I work them up to it - some can't manage the depth to begin with, they just collapse.

 

[Dancelot]

A wider stance allows you to go deeper. So the stance width you choose depends on what you want to work. If you only care about quads, go narrow and shallow; if you want an arse, go wide and deep.

High bar is more comfortable and balanced for a narrow stance shallow squat, and low bar for a wider stance squat.

I think you got it all mixed up, Kyle.

While it's true that having a very narrow stance makes it hard to go deep (although that depends on your flexibility), likewise, having an ultra wide stance does the same. There's a range in the middle (varies depending on the person) that one can squat deep with.

Olympic lifters squat very very deep and they use a high bar, narrow stance squat.

Glutes and hammies get worked hard when you go deep & bounce out of the hole. Low bar or high bar don't matter so much. Those muscles will get sore the next day regardless.

I've gone from a high bar, slightly narrower than shoulder width stance to a low bar, slightly wider than shoulder width stance. I can squat deep with both.

 

[Goosey]

Use a stance that allows you to go as low as possible while maintaining the backs natural curvature.

More often than not a person with longer thighs versus upper torso benefits from a wider than normal (for them) stance.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Kyle Aaron]

While it's true that having a very narrow stance makes it hard to go deep (although that depends on your flexibility), likewise, having an ultra wide stance does the same. There's a range in the middle (varies depending on the person) that one can squat deep with.

Yeah, sorry - I was unclear.

By "wide" I mean anything wider than shoulder-width. That's wide by the standards of what you usually see in gyms, though of course it's not wide compared to some equipped powerlifters' squats.

Olympic lifters squat very very deep and they use a high bar, narrow stance squat.

I'm talking in general conditioning terms. Anyone doing Olympic lifts will have their own coach and no be asking questions on an internet forum, and even if they did, well before they do the Olympic lifts they'd have done some other time of other training, and so have developed the flexibility and core strength required.

Take all the people squatting in the gym, maybe one in ten could go deep with a stance equal to or narrower than shoulder-width - if even that many.

I've gone from a high bar, slightly narrower than shoulder width stance to a low bar, slightly wider than shoulder width stance. I can squat deep with both.

Could you have when you began, though? Remember, strength's not the only that goes up with resistance training, there's flexibility, too.

 

[Dancelot]

Yes I could squat deep when I began. My flexibility has always been good in this regard (I'm Asian, it's in the genes ). The stances I've picked for my two types of squat are what I feel I'm the strongest with. I just did a check and there's only like 3cm difference between the two on each side.

You are right though. Most people who just started squatting usually have a too narrow stance because some ignorant PT told them to use it. I do remember telling a few to widen their stance up a bit so they can go deeper without falling over. Their main problem isn't exactly the width of the stance though, it's usually the toes that aren't pointing out enough (often pointing forward).

And none of them has quads worth a damn. They often comment on how big my quads are and I always recommend squatting deep - not narrow and shallow